Improvement in oil-stills



J. REESE;

` 0n Still. No. 38,602; Patented May 19,' 1863.v

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` the cold-air fiues and stack.

PATENT OFFICE JACOB REESE, OF vFI'ITSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN OILWSTILLS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent Np. 38,602, dated May 19, 1863.

To rml `'U17/1,0711, t may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB REESE, of the city of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Furnaces and Stills for Distilling Petroleum and other Hydrocarbon Oils; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the annexed drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a front elevation of my improved furnace and still. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the linexx of Fig. 3-thatis,through the axis of the stills-showing the interior of the still and the diaphragms or partitions therein. Fig. 3 is a plan or top View of my improved furnace and stills, a portion of the still at one end being removed, so as to eX- hibit the interior of the furnace beneath it. Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation of the furnace and still throught fw, Fig. 3, seen from the rear of the furnace, being at one end of the gure a section through the hinder part of the iire-chamber of the furnace, in the middle a section Vthrough the smoke-fines and smokestacks, and at the other end a section through Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the furnace and still through one of the fire-chambers and smoke-fluesthat is, through y y.' Fig. 6 is a transverse section of the furnace and still at the line z z, Figs. 2 and S-that is, through the end wall of the furnace and the cold-air stack.

In each of the several figures like letters of reference denote similar parts.

My invention is designed as an improvement on the mode of constructing and setting oil-stills in their furnaces for which Letters Patent of the United States No. 35,888 were granted to me on 8th day of July, 1862.

In the specification accompanying said Letters Patent just referred to I have set forth the great advantages in the process of distillation of carbon oils, as well as in the safety of the operation, of employing stills of large capacity/,which are, briefly, that by the use of large stills the oil is less likely to boil over,

that a higher degree of heat can be employed with safety, and thereby the process may be more rapidly carried on, and that the resulting product of distillation is more uniform in Quality. rlhe practical difficulty which had prevented the use of stills of sufficiently large capacity was that the joints and rivets being exposed to the direct action of the fire caused the stills to leak by the expansion and contraction of the metal, and the carbon oil is so highly inflammable that serious danger of fire and explosion resulted therefrom. To overcome this obstacle I invented the plan of so constructing stills and their furnaces that all the joints or seams in the still inside of the nre-chamber of the furnace should be covered by walls or supports of brick-work or cement, and thus protected from the direct action of the fire. By this means I am enabled to use stills of large capacity and comparatively small diameter, thereby giving a large firesurface to the still, which greatly expedites the process of 'distillation and economizes the heat. I have found, however, by practical experience in my extensive oilref1nery, that although this is a long stride in the right direction and a very great improvement in the manufacture of refined hydrocarbon oil, yet that the'heat of the furnace communicated to the boiler would more or less expand the rivets and cause the stills to leak at the rivet.

holes when the heat was reduced, and that the oil is of so very great tenuity that some of it would escape between the walls and the surface of the stills. I also discovered that in a long cylindrical still as ordinarily constructed I could not use more than one gooseneck (as I proposed to do in the specification .before referred to) to any advantage, because,

owing to the slight vacuum. in the still caused by the condensation of the vapor in the condenser which communicates with the goosenecks, only one of the goose-necks would run at a time. In a still of large capacity the use of one goose-neck only necessitates the employment of a condensing-pipe of large diameter, and therefore of comparatively small condensing surface, the circumference of a small circle being greater in proportion to its area than that of a larger one. I have, however, overcome all these objections by the iinprovements in the furnace and still hereinafter described, which I have fully tested by actual use on a large scale.

To enable others skilled in the art to construct and use my improvements, I will proceed to describe them more fully.

In the drawings, a represents the furnace, on

which the still I) is set. The still is construct- 1 the seams or lapped edges of the still, and

ed of a number of curved plates of boileriron lapped at the edges and riveted together, the joints parallel to the axis of the cylinder being all situate in the upper portion of the still above the level of the fire-chamber of the furnace. The circumferential joints c c c are at uniform distances apart, and under each such joint is placed a supporting-partition fire-wall, d (Z. These supporting firewalls are arched, as seen in Fig. 5, so that the partitions do not serve to separate the several fire-chambers c e, &c., but each opens into those adjoining it, and thus the temperature of the whole furnace is equalized. The upper surface of each of the partition firewalls (Z cZ is an inverted arch, so that the bottom of the cylindrical still rests on them. There is a separate fire-door, f, to each firechamber c. Thus far the construction of the furnace and still resembles that described in my patent of July 8, 1862. Each fire-chan1 ber has a separate line, g, for the escape of the smoke and products of combustion'of the fuel, two such flues of adjoining lire-chambers uniting in the back wall, 7L, of the furnace, and connecting with a chimney or smokestack, t'. (See Figs. and 5.)

On the top of eaclr of the partition lirewalls (Z d (the shape of which is an inverted arch, as before stated) is a channel or gutter, L, which, when the still rests on the top of these walls, forms part of the cold-air line Z. The top of each of these partition-walls tZ on each side of the gutter k is iu close contact with the surfaceof the still, the circumferential joints cc of which occur in each case immediately over a gutter in one of the supporting partition-walls cZ (Z, as seen in Fig. 2, so that if any oil should leak out of the still at the rivet-holes or between the lapped edges of the plates composing the still it will run into the gutter 7c and cannot reach the lire. A coldair passage, m, extends horizontally along the furnace, near the front and below the firechambers. (See Figs. 4 and 6.) )Vith this air-passage m a series of air-ilues, Z, communicate, which air-fines Z pass up through each of the partition lire-walls Z and open into the gutter Zt at the front side of the furnace at the point where the wall of the furnace touches the outside of the still b. At the other or rear end of each gutter k the flue Z opens into an upper horizontal air-passage, a, (see Fig. 4,) which extends through the back wall of the furnace above the fire-chamb ers, and which terminates at one end ofthe furnace in an air stack or chimney, p. These air-flues Z have no connection whatever with the smokeliues g or smoke-.stacks 'i t. By this means a current of cold air is passing at all times,

when the furnace is heated, along the lower air-passage, m, up through each of the fines Z, around each of the gutters k, and thence along` the upper air-passage, a, and out at the airchimney p, the effect of which is to keep the still comparatively cool around lthe rivets and at thus in a great measure prevent their leaking, and should any oil have escaped into the gutters k k the current of air traversing the gutters will vaporize and carry it off.

In stills of large capacity it is necessary, in order to carry on the process of distillation with rapidity, to furnish more than one exit' for the vapor of distillation, because, as before stated, a single exit-pipe of sufficiently large diameter to carry off the vapor generated in such a still would present a comparatively small exterior surface to the refrigerating effects of the cold water in the-condenser. Owing to the greatly diminished volume of the condensed oil as compared with that of the vapor, a `slight vacuum is created in the still, or, more correctly speaking, the pressure inside the still is somewhat less than the pressure of the atmosphere, which, when two exit-pipes are used opening into the same vapor-space in the still, causes a slight reaction in one goose-neck, while the other -is flowing. In order to overcome this difficulty and to enable two or more goose-necks to be used in large stills I make use of a partition or partitions, 1, as many as may be required by the size of the still, which separate the vaporspace of the still into as many distinct compartments as I desire to use goose-necks, but which, not reaching quite to the bottom of the still7 allow a free communication from one partition to the other of the oil, thus preserving uniformity of temperature of the distillate (or crude oil in the still) and preserving the oil in all the compartments at the same height in the still.

In. the drawings, l q are the goose-necks, ranged at almost uniform distances apart on the top of the still.. Between each goose-neck g, I place in the still a partition, o', (see Fig. 2,) which extends down nearly to the bottom of the still, so as to separate the vapor-space above the surface of the oil between the partitions completely, the Vbottom of each partition extending down to a point which will always be a little below the surface of the distillate even when the oil is nearly all run over. This narrow opening at the bottoni of each partition is sufficient to allow of the free passage of oils from between the partitions,which keeps it at a uniform height and temperature.

Instead of partitions extending nearly to the bottom of the still, partitions may be used which imite with the still at all points of their circumference and all perforated with holes below t-he lowest point of the surface of the oil.

Having thus described my improvement in stills and furnaces for distilling hydrocarbon oils, what I claim as my'inventiomand desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The use of partition fire-walls in stillfurnaces, each having a gutter or air-flue in its upper surface, so situate in relation to the still that the seams or joints of the still shall be situate over the gutter or line, while rif wall on either side of the gutter isin close contact with the surface of the still, in the Inanner and for the purposes hereinbefore described.

2. The use, in combination with the guttered ircwalls inclosing the joints of the still, of air-tlues for the purpose of passing a current of cold air along and over so much of the joints and rivets of stills as are situate in that part of the still which is situate within the firechamber of the furnace, and thereby preventing the opening of the joints and carrying off any oil which may leak from the still.

3. The use of two or more goosenecks in a to pass freely between the compartments thus formed.

4. The use in stills of partitions extending below the lowest level of the fluid to be distilled, so as to separate the Vapor in each compartment from that in the adjoining compartments and afford a free passage between the compartments of the fluid to be distilled, for the purpose of allowing of the use of two or more goose-necks or Vapor-pipes in one still,

substantially as described.

In testimony whereof the said J A0013 REESE has hereunto set his hand.

` JACOB REESE.

iitnesses:

W. BAKEWELL, J. D. HANCOCK. 

